Hope everyone had a great Labor day! Jen and I were busy hanging out with our friends, which is always a great time. On Saturday, I made three meat meatballs and let me tell you, AWESOME. If you are a fan of meatballs and really want to change it up then this post is for you. Now this isn’t a meal to make in 30 minutes, but it is a great meal to make say while you are watching football and drinking a beer or two. This recipe will also have the house smelling really good and when the guests arrive you hear, DAMN IT SMELLS GOOD, WHEN ARE WE EATING?

Let’s cook!

Three Meat Meatballs with Basic Tomato Sauce

2 cups bread crumbs

2 pounds ground turkey

1 package prosciutto (about 8 slices), diced

8 ounces sweet Italian sausage

3 large eggs

1/2 cup grated Romano

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

3/4 cup fresh chopped Italian parsley

1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup dry white wine

salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, prosciutto, sausage, bread crumbs, eggs, 1/4 cup of Romano, the Parm, 1/2 cup of parsley, nutmeg, and 1/4 cup olive oil.

Time to get the hands dirty. Mix all ingredients until completely combined.

Season with salt and pepper. Now roll the mixture into about 3-inch balls.

Place the balls on a baking sheet, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour. While the meatballs rest time make the Basic Tomato Sauce.

Basic Tomato Sauce

2 – 28oz cans whole tomatoes

1 red onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

3 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped

1/2 medium carrot, shredded

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Add the thyme and carrot and cook until the carrot is soft, about 8 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, with their juices, and bring to a boil.

Lower the heat and simmer the sauce for 30 – 40 minutes. Season with salt.

Back to the meatballs. In a dutch over or a VERY heavy-bottom saute pan, heat the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil over high heat until almost smoking. Add the meatballs and brown on all sides.

Jen took a picture of me while I was cooking the meatballs.

Then she noticed I was getting hot oil on my face and on my shirt and asked where the gift was she bought me. Needless to say I put it on faster than me running to watch the latest score of the game.

Ok back to the meatballs. One the meatballs have browned on all sides, transfer to a plate with a papertowel to drain off the oil.

Drain the oil from the pan and add the wine to get the flavors from the bottom.

Add the tomato sauce to the pan and bring to a boil.

Place the meatballs in the sauce and return to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 30 – 40 minutes.

Time to plate! For this dinner I made a mushroom Risotto and topped it the meatballs and sauce.

Here is a close-up:

Now you have a meatball recipe that will make you smile as you eat it, and have your friends talking about how awesome it would be to have them as a sandwich the next day.

Happy Cooking!